Charlie Brooks, husband of former News International chief executive Rebekah, may be facing a charge of conspiring to pervert the course of justice (alongside his wife), but it hasn't stopped him giving a lengthy newspaper interview.

He explains that the "Upset" is a family in-joke, a response to the claim that the couple are part of the Chipping Norton set, which he calls "a figment of one journalist's imagination."

The day before the interview, Rebekah Brooks had appeared at Westminster magistrates court on a separate charge - conspiracy to intercept communications without lawful authority. She was remanded on bail.

Charlie Brooks says in the interview: "A day like yesterday felt like nothing. It was just, oh Rebekah was in court being charged with phone-hacking. We've become so weathered to it we hardly bother to talk about it."

He also refers to his and Rebekah's arrest at 5.45am one morning earlier this year:

"It was March, first day of the Cheltenham Festival. Baby asleep. Eighteen of them [police]. They came running up the stairs shouting their heads off. It felt like a very over-the-top operation. The nanny was totally traumatised."

Brooks moves on to talk about the couple's daughter, Scarlett, who was born in January, with the use of a surrogate mother. He explains that the mother was a "very selfless" friend. He says:

"IVF is a tough thing to get through. Very tough for the woman — because you're injecting yourself — and, obviously, if it's very tough for the woman it's quite tough for the person with the woman."

And it took place during the phone hacking crisis? Yes, says Brooks. "She's very tough, Rebekah." He thinks it "hilarious" that people viewed the baby's birth as a ploy to make them look more human and caring. "The idea that we could conjure one up, that we would go, 'Let's have a baby to soften Rebekah's image' — no chance."

Brooks says the past year hasn't been all misery: "I've been amazed by how incredibly supportive people have been." But, interviewer Giles Hattersley interjects, quite a lot of people hate you. "Yeah, I'm sure," says Brooks. "But a lot of people don't know the true story yet."

He then speaks about the Brookes' legal battles:

"I am 100% confident. I would be disappointed if, pre-court, they [the Crown Prosecution Service] decided not to pursue charges against Rebekah for phone hacking. That's not resolution, that's not putting the record straight. You'd never be able to clear your name unless it goes through a court."

Brooks believes that his wife has "a big career in front of her… she has extraordinary clarity of thought. She's got this power to see around the corner…

"I think, in a way, this will turn out to be a great opportunity for her. While this bit might be a bit traumatic, I actually think she'll look back and think, 'That was the catalyst that made me have the second half of my life'. I think that will be the case and will be a good thing."

"Oh," concludes Hattersley, "the devotion of a dutiful husband. She's lucky to have him."